Early Australian census records

The first full census of the colony of New South Wales. This may include areas now part of Queensland (unclear at this stage).

Available from the Ancestry Library Edition database, from the State Library of Victoria and some local libraries.
Also available as a book, and on CD-ROM (which contains additional information extracted from surviving census records).

Includes names, ages, ships of arrival, year of arrival, sentences, religions, occupations, employers, abodes, workplaces and information about whether people were convicts, had been pardoned, assigned to an employer, emancipated etc. Organised alphabetically by surname.

Note: 'Two copies of this census were created. One copy remained in New South Wales [State Archives], the other was sent to the Public Records Office in England...there are some slight differences between the two copies' (source). Both the State Archives and TNA copies are available on the Ancestry Library Edition database.

This website indexes names of heads of households recorded on the 1841 census. It includes areas which are now part of Queensland. Once a reference has been found, the microfilm 1841 census householders' returns can be accessed for more information.

Microfilmed copies of census returns (complete census records of individuals). In addition to areas of New South Wales, includes areas which are now part of Victoria and Queensland. Use with Index to 1841 Census (listed above).
Indexed, complete copy of census also available electronically at the State Library of Victoria and some local libraries, from the Ancestry Library Edition database (online copy varies slightly from microfilm copy).

Website. Includes transcribed copies of statistical reports for the 1861, 1864, 1868, 1871, 1876, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses.

These reports are also available on microfiche in the Family History & Newspapers Room, at LTMF 53 (Q2). In some cases the microfiched copies of the original reports may be easier to read than the transcriptions on this website.